Modern vehicles acquire and use large quantities of data. Vehicles wirelessly transmit and receive significant amounts of this data via a telematics unit through wireless telephony. But wireless data transmission can be costly. Often data is transmitted via data packet sessions which can come at a significant expense over an extended period of time. Data packet sessions may use significant bandwidth and experience slower data transfer times; qualities that becomes more apparent when transferring data to and from a large fleet of vehicles.
Localized wireless networks are becoming more plentiful, increasing the number of locations where a user can send and receive data. Wireless data is now commonly transmitted between the user and a variety of localized wireless networks. These wireless networks allow a user to connect and wirelessly access the Internet or other communications network at many locations within a community. The user's wireless networking device can permit the sending and receiving of data, images, files or other general communications to and from the wireless network via various types of wireless protocols. While these localized wireless networks are inexpensive and plentiful, users may only be able access these networks when immobile and positioned within a relatively close proximity to the networks. Without close proximity to a localized wireless network, users are unable to send and receive communications.